I have been a steel guy my entire life - I like clean lines of lugs and fillet brazing. I have an oppurnunity to pick a Da Vinci Venture in Easton 7004 Alum - very nice components. I won't won't get a chance to ride this bike, but we are a pretty standard medium sized team. We have several Joint Ventures in our Clubs so I might get a chance to ride a steel version - both couples love their bikes.

The bike has nice paint, but the welds and others I have seen on Da Vinci's are most almost industrial and not very pretty. Is there some reason for this? The bikes are extremely fuctional and mechanically the independent coasting really appeals to me, the range of the gearing, along with their campy setups.

As I stated earlier I have been a steel guy by entire life - in fact I have ruthlessly teased my buddies about their "beer can" bikes. We do around 4,000 miles a year on our bikes and some touring. Any comments would be appreciated. MW

Aluminum is fine -- especially if equipped with a carbon fork and carbon seat stays. :)

I have one steel and one aluminum tandem. The Al requires a shock seatpost for the stoker.

Co-Motion will do fillet brazing (extra $).
daVinci is a great tandem in alu, steel or ti and now also carbon fiber (joint venture with Calfee): Calfee builds frameset to daV specs, and daV equips/paints it). CalVinci???
We own a carbon fiber Zona tandem with c/f lugs (with window cutouts). See review on a non-lugged 23-lbs. Zona tandem in Recumbent & Tandem Rider Magazine (Fall 2006 issue).
Fillet brazed or lugged tandems are more labor intensive and co$t a bit more than TIG welds. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!